Brisen
Dame Brisen is a sorceress and maiden to Elaine, daughter of King Pelles, in Le Morte d'Arthur.
Dame Brisen is a sorceress and maiden to Elaine, daughter of King Pelles, in Le Morte d'Arthur. She is attested across four chapters with 8 citations, all concerning her role in engineering Launcelot's liaison with Elaine. King Pelles enlists her: "O fair lady, Dame Brisen, said the king, hope ye to bring this about?" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XI, Chapter II). She responds with confidence, assuring Elaine "I will undertake that this night he shall lie with you, an ye would hold you still" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XI, Chapter VII).
Brisen arranges the deception through "her crafts," learning of agreements made between other parties and relaying them to Elaine: "This bargain was soon done and made between them, but Dame Brisen knew it by her crafts, and told it to her lady, Dame Elaine" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XI, Chapter VII). When Launcelot later runs mad and is discovered, Brisen again takes charge: "we must be wise how we deal with him, for this knight is out of his mind, and if we awake him rudely what he will do we all know not; but ye shall abide, and I shall throw such an enchantment upon him that he shall not awake within the space of an hour; and so she did" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XII, Chapter IV).
After Launcelot recovers, the deception is acknowledged openly. Elaine names the conspirators: "no more but my father, and I, and Dame Brisen" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XII, Chapter V). Launcelot himself confronts Elaine with Brisen's role: "ye and Dame Brisen made me for to lie by you maugre mine head; and as ye say, that night Galahad your son was begotten" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XII, Chapter V).
Brisen is the operative force behind one of Le Morte d'Arthur's most consequential deceptions -- the begetting of Galahad. Her "crafts" and "enchantment" mark her as a practitioner of magic within the narrative, but her function is more practical than mystical: she is the planner and executor, while Pelles provides authority and Elaine provides consent. The text attributes both cunning ("she knew it by her crafts") and caution ("we must be wise how we deal with him") to her, presenting a figure who manages the logistics of supernatural manipulation with pragmatic skill. That Launcelot names her directly when confronting Elaine underscores her responsibility in the conspiracy.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, British Tradition